Analysing Leadership for Media Production

As the media production landscape is constantly evolving with a new generation of content creators. Managing and leading this team will put any leader to task. This article looks at the roles of manager and leader and the models that can be adopted for effective leadership.

Leadership and management roles

Azad et al (2017) describes Leadership and management as a continuum, effectively two sides of the same coin, hence one and the same. Kotter (1996, p. 25) however, outlines the difference between management and leadership, the former being planning, organising and controlling that produces predictable results while the latter establishes vision, aligns and motivates people, producing change. Kotter dictates that for organisations to successfully transform, 70 to 90% of the focus should go to leadership.

However, if followed rigidly, the organisation might collapse from the sudden push to change. A skillful leader would consider the current state of the organisation and strategically work his way up to that point, dynamically planning and implementing appropriate changes along the way.

Leadership models for media production

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (Mujtaba & Sungkhawan, 2009, p. 4) works best in almost all media production environments. Due to the dynamic nature of production in overseas countries, producers have to constantly adapt to changing crews and filming situations. Missing equipment, location bans, bad weather constantly threaten production schedules and budgets. Being able to assess the situation and applying the correct task or relationship behaviour to the crew with the right skill sets to get the job done is fundamental to success. The limitation for this theory is that it takes time for the leader to acquire the necessary experience and know how to assemble the “right” crew and handle different situations, thus cannot be applied at the start of the career.

Leading Directors/Producers

David Fincher - Known for his unrelenting devotion to perfection, he displays a situational style of leadership according to his co-workers (Ducker, 2020). Though highly demanding, collaborators are willing to work with him due to the alignment of vision of the highly polished finished film. Most of his trusted managers are in the R4/S2 quadrant. He engages individuals differently according to their role and contribution (applying different task/relationship combination) and is able to rally his team towards that vision, becoming one of the most prolific directors of this generation, winning numerous awards.

Vin Diesel however displays a more authoritarian style of leadership. As one of the founding members of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, he wields great power and authority in how things are done. His authoritative style has led to a falling out with long time collaborator and director Justin Lin (Bergeson, 2022). Such incidents are usually signs where a production is falling apart. Time and money is wasted looking for a new director to fill the shoes and the quality of the finished product is usually compromised.

On being led well

Being a media production professional, one is expected to perform their task in a collaborative environment with full autonomy to the role assigned to them (Lee, 2017, p. 162), as they rely on other professionals to perform their role as well. Their expectation from their leader would be one that is able to coordinate the overall effort and to have a plan when emergency situations occur. For example, on the set of Hot guys who cook season 2 (Beach House Pictures, n.d.), it was made aware last minute that the building they were filming in will go on auto lockdown in 60 mins. The production manager made the call to assign available staff to pack all unused equipment while full production is still ongoing. They were able to wrap production and drag out the last piece of equipment with minutes to spare. It took a clear ability to delegate and coordinate the effort for production to be successful.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Leadership models and theories can only take you so far. Having a firm understanding of them is akin to having the best ingredients to prepare a dish. Only in the hands of a skillful chef does it reach its fullest potential. This takes talent and practice.

Here are some recommendations: -

1.Have a clear understanding of the production strength and shortcomings and assign the right people to manage them.

2. Overseas productions often require a more streamlined team so hire a more experienced team with multiple skill sets that have worked well previously.

3. Know the strengths and weaknesses of your team and anticipate possible scenarios.

4. Apply situational leadership when the need arises.

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References

Azad, N., Anderson, H., Brooks, A., Garza, O., O'Neil, C., Stutz, M., & Sobotka, J. (2017, Aug). Leadership and Management Are One and the Same. American Journal of Pharmaceutical education, 81(6), 102. DOI: 10.5688/ajpe816102

Beach House Pictures. (n.d.). Hot Guys Who Cook Season 2. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.beachhousepictures.com/hot-guys-who-cook-2

Bergeson, S. (2022, May 3). Fast 10: Vin Diesel and Justin Lin Argument Led to Director's Exit. IndieWire. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.indiewire.com/2022/05/fast-10-vin-diesel-justin-lin-argument-director-exit-1234721702/

Ducker, E. (2020, September 21). David Fincher, as Explained by the People Who Work With Him. The Ringer. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/9/21/21446089/david-fincher-profile-director-set-stories

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change: An Action Plan from the World's Foremost Expert on Business Leadership. Harvard Business School Press.

Lee, C. (2017, Aug 30). The leadership of balancing control and autonomy in public sector networks: the case of Singapore. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 151 - 172. DOI: 10.1080/17516234.2017.1370774

Mujtaba, B., & Sungkhawan, J. (2009). Situational Leadership And Diversity Management Coaching Skills. Journal of Diversity Management – First Quarter 2009, 4(1).